Acadia National Park, 6-27 to 6-28

Cadillac is a great hike; the only downside is the crowds on top. We stayed at Blackwoods and were able to take the South Ridge Trail right from there. This is one of the longer routes, so we saw very few people until very near the top. Once there we tried to find a quite spot for lunch; this was almost impossible. My kids did however like the idea of a gift shop; ice cream in the middle of a hike was something new. We found the Precipice and Beehive trails were better choices both for crowds and as a challenge.

WBB said:

Cadillac is a great hike; the only downside is the crowds on top. <snip> Once there we tried to find a quite spot for lunch; this was almost impossible.

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Pop over to Dorr Mtn. Trail goes through a cute little notch.

Doug

it would have been great to check out the precipice and beehive trails, heard so much about them....next time>

Is Precipice open? I thought it was normally closed this time of year due to peregrine nesting.

We don't care for crowds or high prices either. Our favorite time of year to go is mid-late May, as the pre-season rates are generally better than the fall rates, when you bump into the foliage tours and cruise ships.

JJHikes said:

Is Precipice open? I thought it was normally closed this time of year due to peregrine nesting.

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Right on the opening page: http://www.nps.gov/acad/index.htm. Closed. (Other closures listed, too.) You could call the park and ask when typical opening dates are.

We don't care for crowds or high prices either. Our favorite time of year to go is mid-late May, as the pre-season rates are generally better than the fall rates, when you bump into the foliage tours and cruise ships.

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Me neither. My college outing club used to run a trip up memorial weekend to beat the crowds.

BTW, fog is most likely in the spring, less likely in the fall. (Don't know about winter, because this info comes from recreational sailing sources.)

Doug

DougPaul said:

BTW, fog is most likely in the spring, less likely in the fall.

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Yet another reason to favor the spring. It's gorgeous when it's undercast.

Artex said:

Via the West Ridge trail, it was around 2 miles, one-way, but is one of the steepest up. There are several other routes of varying difficulty and lengths. Some, but not all of them, are listed on their website. Click here for a link. You can get a free map at the ranger station that lists the other routes. Perhaps they exist somewhere online, but I couldn't find them.

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Good info. Thank you.

The precipice normally opens in August when the falcons are done nesting. The west ridge trail I believe is 2 to 2.5 miles from bubble pond. The valley between dorr and cadillac is vey nice. A good hike would be to park at sieur de monts and go up past the lake and around dorr mt and come up the gorge trail and then over to cadillac and then come back down to dorr. The valley in between the two is a very nice hike up the notch.

AMC Guide to Mount Dersert Island and Acadia National Park is a grerat resource, it comes with a trail map.

Great pics Artex and Yam....have my family reservations for Blackwoods late August for 6 days, can't wait, our first trip to Maine. Trying to get the family into bicycle shape and hiking...seems every magazine i look at shows pictures of Acadia..